Katey Sagal

Jew Watch Entertainment presents the following biographical information on Katey Sagal.

Catherine Louise "Katey" Sagal (born January 19, 1954) is a Jewish American actress and singer-songwriter. Katey Sagal first achieved widespread fame as Peggy Bundy on the long-running Fox comedy series Married... with Children, for which Katey Sagal was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy Television Series and two American Comedy Awards during the show's run.

PEGGY BUNDY - MARRIED WITH CHILDREN

QUINTESSENTIAL AMERICAN TROLLOPE

Katey Sagal also voices the character of Leela on the animated series Futurama and its related direct-to-DVD movies since 1999. Katey Sagal is also known for starring on the show 8 Simple Rules in the role of Cate Hennessy, where Katey Sagal worked with John Ritter until his death, leading to Katey Sagal taking over as the series' lead for the remainder of the show's run.

Since 2008, Katey Sagal has played the role of matriarch Gemma Teller Morrow in the FX drama series Sons of Anarchy, for which Katey Sagal won a Golden Globe in 2011. Katey Sagal has been married to the show's creator, Kurt Sutter, since 2004.x

Early life

Katey Sagal was born in California to a show business family of five children,[2] including younger twin sisters Jean and Liz Sagal, and Joe Sagal all three of whom are actors. Her mother, Sara Zwilling, was a writer and producer who died of heart disease; her father, Boris Sagal, was a director[3] who died in an accident on the set of the television movie World War III.[2] Katey Sagal and her siblings grew up in Brentwood, Los Angeles.[2]

Career

Katey Sagal on Comic-Con 2011

Katey Sagal began her career in Hollywood, appearing in several made for TV movies between 1971 and 1975, including a small role as a receptionist in the Columbo installment Candidate for Crime (directed by her father) and in 1973 working as a backing vocalist for various singers, including Bob Dylan and Tanya Tucker./
In 1978, Kiss bassist Gene Simmons asked her to sing background vocals on his self-titled solo album. During this time Katey Sagal was also a member of the rock group The Group With No Name. Katey Sagal also sang backup for Bette Midler, who hired her for her 1979 tour as one of The Harlettes. In 1981, Katey Sagal appeared as a backup singer on the Molly Hatchet album Take No Prisoners.

Katey Sagal returned to television in 1985 in the series Mary starring Mary Tyler Moore. This led to her being cast as Peggy Bundy on the sitcom Married... with Children (1987–1997). Katey Sagal portrayed the lower-class, sex-starved wife of shoe salesman Al Bundy. During her audition for the role, Katey Sagal brought her own red bouffant wig and with the producers' approval, the look transitioned into the show. As Peg, Katey Sagal wore the wig, capri-length leggings with a large belt, and high slip-on heels, which were all fashion styles from the 1960s. The series ran for eleven years.

After the end of Married... with Children, several more television films followed, and Katey Sagal also contributed to the children's cartoon Recess as the voice of Spinelli's mother. In 1999, Matt Groening cast her as the purple-haired, cyclopian spaceship captain, Leela, in his science fiction cartoon comedy Futurama. The show developed a cult following, but was canceled after five seasons.[4] However, airings in syndication on Adult Swim[5] and Comedy Central[6] increased the show's popularity and led Comedy Central to commission a series of Futurama direct-to-DVD films, which the network later rebroadcast as 16 episodes.[7] Katey Sagal reprised her role as Leela in these films, and in the new season that began airing June 24, 2010.[8]

Katey Sagal guest starred as Edna Hyde, Steven Hyde's mother, in three episodes of That '70s Show. Katey Sagal starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom Tucker the following year./
Katey Sagal was cast as the wife of John Ritter in the sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter in 2002. Ritter had completed only three episodes of the second season of 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter before his death. The show was cancelled in 2005 after its third season.

In 2005, Katey Sagal made two appearances on Lost as Helen Norwood. In 2007, Katey Sagal had a role in the season finale of The Winner as Glen Abbot's former, and Josh's current, teacher, with whom Glen has his first sexual experience. The following year, Katey Sagal appeared in four episodes of the short-lived series Eli Stone. Katey Sagal currently stars as Gemma Teller Morrow on the TV show Sons of Anarchy, created by her husband, Kurt Sutter.
 

Katey Sagal 3, 2012

In January 2009, Katey Sagal reunited with her TV son David Faustino (Bud Bundy from Married with Children) for an episode of Faustino's show Star-ving.[9] In 2010, Katey Sagal appeared twice more on Lost. In 2009 Katey Sagal starred in the film House Broken with Danny DeVito.

In 2010, Katey Sagal returned to the stage in Randy Newman's musical Harps & Angels.[10]

Musical career

Katey Sagal is also a songwriter. In 1976, while a member of The Group With No Name, Katey Sagal contributed to the album Moon over Brooklyn. Katey Sagal was a member of Bette Midler's backup group The Harlettes in 1978, and again from 1982–83.[11] Katey Sagal performed backing vocals on the self-titled solo album by Gene Simmons as well as background vocals on Olivia Newton-John's 1985 single "Soul Kiss". Katey Sagal also provided the vocals for "Loose Cannons", the theme song for the movie featuring Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd in 1990. The song featured her singing most of the song, while Aykroyd sang the chorus and had some background impersonations from the movie.

On April 19, 1994, Katey Sagal released her first solo album, Well... On June 1, 2004, Katey Sagal released her second album, Room.[12] Katey Sagal has also contributed to the Sons of Anarchy soundtrack.[13]

Personal life

Katey Sagal was married to German American musician Freddie Beckmeier (1978–1981) and country music drummer Jack White (November 26, 1993–July 24, 2000). In 1991, Katey Sagal learned Katey Sagal was pregnant. This was unexpected by the directors of Married... with Children, so the pregnancy was written into the storyline of the show. However, in October 1991, Katey Sagal had to have an emergency Caesarean section in her seventh month of pregnancy, ending in the stillbirth of a daughter. The pregnancy on the show was then regarded as a "dream", which was mentioned only briefly at the end of the episode "Al Bundy, Shoe Dick". Katey Sagal also had an early miscarriage around this time. Katey Sagal and White eventually had two children. The writers of Married... with Children deliberately didn't write Sagal's two later pregnancies into the show due to the earlier stillbirth, opting instead to shoot her in instances where her midsection was obscured, such as in a taxicab or at a craps table in Las Vegas.[14]

Katey Sagal married writer-producer Kurt Sutter in a private ceremony on October 2, 2004, at their home in Los Feliz, California. They have a daughter, who was born through a surrogate mother.[15]

Filmography

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

Katey Sagal at the 41st Emmy Awards in 1989

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Katey Sagal

• Official website
• Katey Sagal on Twitter
• Katey Sagal at the Internet Movie Database
• Katey Sagal cast bio on The WB